Proton P3-21A by February 2012 and vendor re-evaluation

Following up the leaked photos of P3-21A BIW late yesterday afternoon, Proton actually "launched" the new Persona BIW in a session at their TGM plant yesterday. They also announced the P3-21A will debut by February 2012. The event saw, among others, the MoU signing with Malaysia Productivity Corp (MPC) to increase the capability of component manufacturer and supplier. 

The vendors will be assessed through the Business Excellence Practises (BEx). The event also saw pledge reading of Proton QA personnel as well as 108 vendors. According to Dato Seri Syed Zainal, Proton has identified 20 out of 108 vendors to their new car. Some vendor will be merged to better ensure quality and productivity.

Well, this is no new things for Proton. And don't be confused by terms "merged" and "consolidate" among vendors. What it means here is that Proton will actually appoint or award the system to one vendor, and this system will consist of many components that is made by many vendors. In effect, the awarded vendor will be the first-tier vendor that hold accountability of the part, whereas the sub vendor will be second-tier and so on.

This potentially can lead towards more efficient vendor management and in turns, produced higher quality parts consistently. This is not a new move by Proton, as this kind of activity has already started during BLM time. Perhaps this explain why BLM quality is way better than any Proton before it.

Proton is already on song this year. Saga is the nation best seller for couple of month now. The introduction of Saga FLX with CVT can comes at no better time. The sales of this model could sustain the lead untill the introduction of enhanced Exora, and eventually P3-21A. To all Proton engineers, work hard guys!